Reclining-chair.



E. FOWLER L H. E. SADLER.

REGLINING CHAIR.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 4, 1909.

@45,92%9 Patented Jan. 11,1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

E. FOWLER & H. E. SADLER.

Patented Jan. 11, 1910. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' [M2M/www E. FOWLER n H. E. SADLER. REGLINING CHAIR.

- APPLICATION FILED JANA, 1909. y @@QQ, Patented Jan. 11,1910. sSHEETS-SHEET s.

UN E STATES EF1@ f EDWIN FOWLER, 0F KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, AND HOLMES E.SADLER, 0F SEDAN, KANSAS.

RECLINING-CHAIR.

To all whom 'it may concern:

le it known that we, llnwin Fownnn and llomins l". SAnLnn, citizensStates residing, respectively, at Kansas City, .lackson county,Missouri, and Sedan, county of Chautauqua, State of Kansas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Reclining-Chairs, ofwhich the following 1s a specification.

This invention relates to convertible chairs of that. type which may becaused to assume proper positions to comfortably supiort the occupant ina .sitting or reclining posture or in a half-sitting or other positionbetween a sitting and 'reclining position, chairs of the type outllnedembodying a Arigid frame, a back section and a leg section pivotedthereto, and a seatsection, between and pivotally suspended from saidback and leg sections and adapted to rise as the leg section and backsections swing simultaneously upward and downward respectively, anddownward as such movements of the leg and back sections are reversed,and our objects are to produce means for locking said sections inposition to accommodate the occupant in a sitting posture and means fortripping the locking means preliminary7 to the unfolding. of the chairto reclining or any intermediate position.

A further object is to produce a chair having a swinging leg sectionprovided with at least two slidable members so connected that they maybe simultaneously moved outward or inward at different speeds and thusincrease or diminish the length ot' the section as a whole, a distanceequal to the aggregate movements of said slidable 1nembers, theextension ot' the section occurring as it swings upward and thecontraction as it swings downward. A chair possessing a leg section otthis character is very desirable because the seat section may be 10Wenough to permit an undersized person seated thereon to rest his feetupon the floor and the sections together long enough when in recliningposition to acconnnodate an exceptionally tall person.

lVith these general objects in view and others as hereinafter appear,the invention consists in certain novel and peculiar features ofconstruction and organization as hereinafter described and claimed; andin order that it may be fully understood ref- Sipecication of LettersPatent.

Application led January 4, 1909.

of the United.

remitted aan. 1i, 191e.

Serial No. 470,716.

t .ercnce is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l, is a side view of the chair em-l bodying the invention, withits movable parts in normal position. Fig. 2,' is a vertical sectiontaken on the line .i1-#11 of Fig. 4, with the movable parts in anintermediate position. Fig. 3, is a plan view of the chair with theparts arranged as in Fig. 2. Fig. 4, is a vertical section on the lineIV-l V of Fig. 2. Fig. 5, is an enlarged front view of a mrt of thechair when arranged in normal positionand with certain parts omitted todisclose features of construction otherwise hidden. Fig. (i, is sectioncorresponding in Fig. 2 but with thep movable parts in substantiallyhorizontal or fully-unfolded position. Fig. 7, is an enlarged verticalsection taken on the line Vl--Vll of Fie". 6. Fig. 8, is a sectionalperspective view of a part ot' the leg section. Fig. 9, is a perspectiveview of a stop-bar forming a part of the leg section. Fig. 10, is adetail perspective View et one of the lock-trip )ing devices.

ln said drawings, l indicates the legs ot the chair equipped if desiredwith casters 2, shown only in Figs. 1 and 5.

3 and 4 are side bars connecting the front and rear legs and 5 arearm-rests upon the front and rear legs and bars 4.

6 are bars connecting the rear legs.

7 is a cross bar connecting side bars 3 and provided centrally with anupwardly-projectinglug 8.

9 is a vertically-movable bar attached to the lower ends of a pair offrames and torming in conjunction therewith a lock-tripping means, saidframes being profe ably formed of wire rods bent to inverted-U form toprovide front and rear vertical arms 10 and 11 to fit against the innersides of bars 3 between the front legs and cross bar 7. The upper endsof said arms are bent outwardly so as to project over and beyond sidebars 3 to form handles 12,4 and the lower ends of the arms 11 are bentto form the inwardly projeeting portions 13 resting upon and securedlbyeye-bolts 14 or otherwlse to the opposite ends of bar 9, the arrangementbeing such that when either of the frames' is grasped and pulled upwardbar 9 moves vertically upward and when released the frame and said bardrop downward until the handie portion of such frame is arrested by con-4kerfs 16 to receive the j parallel side bars extending through therecesses 15 and connected at their rear or upper ends by one or morecross bars 20. At their front or lower ends they externally embrace andare pivoted at 21 to the side bars 22 of the seat section, which sidebars preferably taper at their lower edges and are connected near theirrear ends by a crossbar 23, concaved by preference at its upper edge,for a purpose which hereinafter appears. Bars 22 are connected at theirfront ends by a cross'bar 24, which in conjunction with bars 22 and 23section.

To form the direct support for the occupant ofthe chair we employ aleather or equivalent strip 25, which b preference is secured at itsupper'end to t e topmost bar 20, if more than one of said bars areemloyed, and at its opposite end to the cross ar 24 of the seat section,the strip bein of sullicient length to sag between the side ars of saidsections and thus comfortably support the occu ant, it being noted inthis connection that y concavin the up er edge of bar 23, the saggin oft e lexile support ,may be accommo ated without materially impairing thestrength of the seat section, it being noted by reference to certain ofthe figures that the seat portion of the support is tacked asA shown orotherwise secured to the upper edges of the bars 22, it being furthernoted by reference to Fi s. 2 and 4 particularly, that the seat portlonof the support is reinforced by an underlying portion 26 adapted to besecured to the seat section by the same devices which secure the supportproper to said seat section, and in or er to compel the support toassume an angular position at all tunes substantiall the same as vtheangular position between t e seat sect-ion and back sections wepreferably connect the rear ends of the seat port by a flexible strip 2and 6. l

To lock the movable parts of the chair in normal position a hinge 28connects cross bar 23 with a lockin bar 29, projectin forward andoverlyin ug 8 and provide near its front end wit a downwardly-openingnotch 30,. the bar. just forward of said notch depending below the planeof the rear wall of the notch to form a rearwardly disposed shoulder 31so that when the movable parts constitute a rigid seat 27, as shown inFigs.

section and seat supof the chair attain their normal position theshoulder 31 will abut against the front side of lu 8 and thus arrest themovable arts of tie chair and permit the lockingr ar to dro downward sothat its notch shall engage said lug. By preference the front en of thelocklng bar slidingly engages an inverted headed pin 32 dependlng fromthe bar 24 of the seat section, a spring 33 engaing said pin and bearingat its'opposite en s a ainst bar 24 and the locking bar to hold t elatter yieldingly depressed. The employment of this pin 1s principallyto prevent bar 29 having too much freedom of movement so that 1t mayoccupy a position where there is less -chance of it being struck orwrenched sidewise in a manner which would be injurious to the hinge. Therincipal function of the spring 33 is to hol the bar 29 yieldingly deressed when locked so that the chair may be moved around with littledanger of becoming accidentally unlocked.

The leg member of the chair is pivoted to the inner sides of le s 1 justbelow the armrests 5 'as at 34, an is constructed as follows A turnedhoo s 35 and parallel ars 36, the hooks engaging the pivots 34. Saidarms are equipped at their outer sides with side bars 37 preferably ofwood, and of such length as to avoid contact with the floor when occuying a substantially upright position, as s own most clearly in Fig. 5,it being also noticed by reference to the same figure that the bars 37are of increased width at their lower ends. The bars 37 are provided attheir inner -sides with longitudinall -extending dove-tail rooves 38where-` in t slidingly dove-tail ars 39 equipped with brackets 40 attheir upper ends connected by chains 41 which extend over guide sheaves43 mounted Ain the hooks 35, as shown most clearly in Fig. 5. 44 arebars secured to the inner sides of4 the slide-bars 39 and provided witha lon itudinal series of right-angled-shaped notees 45 in their lLipperedges. 46 indicates guide sheaves earin bars 44, and engagin said seaves are chains 47 secured at t eir lower ends to brackets 48 securedto and projecting inward from bars 37 and at their opposite ends toclips 49 mounted slidingly on the notched air of bars com rise downajournaled relation to and carried by an at .the outer sides and up erends of,

bars 44. The clips are provided with inwardly rojectin ins 50 forengagement by the ilfpper enspof the arms of the U- shaped frame 51,resting near its lower end on inwardly-projecting lugs 52 of the slidebars 44, the arms of said frame being braced by the cross-bar 53 havingupwardly-pro- 'ecting ends 54 for engagement with the stop ar 55bridging the space between the slidebars and adapted to engage one pairof 4alincd notches thereof, the said stop-bar 55l ceases terminating inhook-ends 56 to engage the out-er sides of the notched bars aboveslidebar 39, to uard against endwise movement and possib'e dislocationfrom the notched bar. By means of this sto -bar downward slidingmovement ot the c ips 49 and the frame 51 is limited, upward movement ofsaid parts being limite by lugs 57 projecting inwardly from the upperends of bars 44.

As a means of exten ingthe leg section and controlling its contraction,a foot-rest 58 is secured between *a pair of angle bars 59 ivoted to theinner sides of the arms of rame 51 in such a manner that when thefoot-rest is unfolded as shown, the bars 59 will strike against and bearrested by the bridge portion of frame 51 shown clearly in ssuming thatthe leg section has been adjusted to accommodate the occupant. by theengagement of the stop-bar with th'e proper notches of bars 44, it willbe seen that when the chair is folded, that is moved from the positionshown in Fig. 6, to the position shown in Fig. 1, the chains 41 due tothe downward movement of the seat-section will travel upwardly uponsheaves 43 and as a result slide the bars 39 and the parts carriedthereby upwardly. At the same time the chains 47, because anchored attheir lower ends to the bars 37 which have swinging movement only, willtravel in the direction indicated by the arrow Fig. 8 around sheaves 46,and as a result cause clips 49 and the connected parts to slide upwardlyat twice the speed of the slide bars 39, so that by the time the bars 37attain a substantially vertically pendent position, the bottom of theframe 51 and the foot-rest 58 will clear the ioor, it being understoodthat the seat 'section and the back section attain their initial andnormal positions at the saine time that the downwardly swinging movementof the leg section ceases, it being further noticed that as the seatsection attains the position explained, the locking bar 29 becomesinterlocked with lug 8. With the I chair in its normal position theoccupant to the position shown in Fig. 1.

pulling them upward and trip can rest his feet upon the foot-rest or canswing the latterupwardly as indicated by he arrow Fig. l, and rest hisfeet upon the oor.

To unfold the chair to a reclining position, the occupant first swingsthe foot-rest He then leans forward slightly in order to reach one orboth of the handles 12 for the purpose of ing the -loclcin -bar fromengagement wit lug 8. As this is accomplished he leans against the backsection and pushes against the foot-rest so as to start the unfoldingoperation and releases the tripping devices, the pressure of his feet onthe foot-rest 'eiecting an extension of the leg section, it bein noticedin this connection that because of t e `fact that chains 47 are doubledaround the sheaves 46, the forward movement oil the foot-rest is morerapid than the correspondin movement of the slide bars 39 as hereinbeore explained. The distance the foot-rest has to travel is considerablyin excess of that ot the slide bars the outward movement et bothterminate simultaneously. J

To hide most of the operative parts of the leg section and also` torovide an underlying support or rest for the leg section and also toprovide an underlying sn port or rest for the legs below the knees, asEelet/on plate 60 bridges the space between and is secured to the upperedges of bars 37 and to aiiord an elevated and comfortable rest for thehead of the occupant a cushion is secured to the back section or ratherto the upper end of the leather strip 25. A

From the foregoing it will be apparent that by the proper adjustment ofstop-bar 55 the ad'ustment of the leg section' is regulated an that theoutwardadjustmentof the stop-bar increases the 'extensible' move- 'mentand inward adjustmentr vdiminishes such movement. l

1t will be seen that the chair can be so ad'usted that an .occupant yofany ordinary height can apply the necessary foot-pressure on thefoot-rest to effect a complete unfolding of the chair to a substantiallyhorizontal or. reclining position and that it affords the resistance orpurchase desirable in reassuming an upright position, the chair ofcourse returning to its upri ht or normal position at the same time, anit is to be so understood that other known'latching or locking andmovement-com ounding means may be em loyed without eparting from theprincip e of construction involved or the spirit and scope of claimshereto appended.

Having thus described the invention what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is i 1. A chair of the character described,comprising a ri id leg frame, a back section pivoted to sai rigid frame,an extensible leg section pi'voted to said rigid frame, a seat sectionpivotally suspended from the back section and the leg section below thepivotal points of the same, suitably arranged supports, flexible partsarched over and 'engaging said supports and connected at their frontends to the extensible part of' the leg section and suitably secured at.their rear ends below their arched points, a frame bearing a slidablerelation to the extensible parts of the leg section, a foot-rest carriedby said last-named frame,'guiding means movable with said extensiblepart, and flexible connections doubled around said guiding means andextending forwardly therefrom and anchored at one end to thenon-extensible parts lit of the lleg section, and at their opposite endsmovable with the frame slidable on the said extensible art.

2. A' chair of the character described, comprising a ri id leg frame,aback section pivoted to sai rigid frame, an extensible leg sectionpivoted to said rigid frame, a seat section pivotally suspended' fromthe back section and the leg section below the pivotal points of thesaine, suitably arranged supports, iexible parts arched over an en a ingsaid supports and connected at t 1e1r front ends to the extensible artof the leg section and suitabl secured) at their rear ends below theirarc ed points, a frame bearing a slidable relation to the extensibleparts of the leg-section, a pivoted foot-rest carried by said last-namedframe and limited in its unfolding movement by its carrying frame,guiding means movable with said extensible part, and iexible connectionsdoubled around said guiding means and extending forwardly therefrom andanchored at one end to nonextensible parts of the le section, and attheir opposite ends movaba with the frame slidable on the saidextensible part.

3. A chair of the character described, comprising a rigid leg frame, aback section pivoted to the said rigid frame, an extensible leg sectionpivoted to said rigid frame, a seat section pivotally suspended from theback section and the leg section below the pivot-al points of the same,suitably arran ed supports, iexible parts arched over and engaging saidsupports and connected at their front ends to the extensible part of theleg section and suitably secured at their rear ends below their archedpoints, a frame bearing a slidable relation to the extensible art of theleg section, a foot-rest carried y said last-named frame, guiding meansmovable with said extensible part, iiexible connections doubled aroundsaid guiding means and extending forwardly therefrom and anchored at oneend to non-extensible parts of the leg section, and at their oppositeends movable with the frame slidable on the said extensible part, andmeans to limit the forward movement 'of the last-named frame.

4. A chair of the character described, comprising a rigid leg frame, aback section pivoted to the said rigid frame, an extensible leg sectionpivoted to said rigid frame, a seat section pivotally suspended from theback section and the leg section below the pivotal points of the same,suitably arran ed supports, flexible parts arched over and engaging saidsupports and connected at thelr front ends to the extensible part of theleg section and suitably secured at their rear ends below their archedpoints, a frame bearing a slidable relation to the extensible part ofthe leg section, a foot-rest carried by said lastnamed frame, guidingmeans .movable with said extenslble part, Hexible connections doubledaround said guiding means and extending forwardly therefrom and anchoredat one end to non-extensible parts of the leg section, and at theiropposite ends movable with the frame slidable on the said extensibleart, and a stop-bar movable with and adl)ustable with respect to thesaid extensible part, to limit the forward movement of the ast-namedframe.

5. A chair of the character described, comprising a ri id le frame, aback section pivoted to sai rigi frame, an extensible leg sectionpivoted to said rigid frame, a seat section pivotally suspended from theback section and the leg section below the pivotal points of the same,suitably arranged supports, flexible parts arched over and en a ing saidsupports and connected at t elr frontends to the extensible part of theleg section and suitably secured at their rear ends below their archedpoints, a frame bearing a slidable relation to the extensible part ofthe leg section, a foot-rest carried by said 1astnamed frame guidingmeans movable with said extensible part, flexible connections doubledaround said guiding means and extending forwardly therefrom and anchoredat one end to non-extensible parts of the leg section, and at their oiosite ends movable with the frame slida e on said extensible art, astop-bar movable with and adjustable with respect to the said extensiblepart to limit the forward movement of the last-named frame, and means tolimit opposite or reverse movement of the last-named frame.

6. In a chair, a leg section comprisin bars pivoted at their u per ends,bars sli ably carried by said plvoted bars, slidable bars carried by thefirst-named slidable bars, 105 and means whereby outward movementimparted to the slidable bars carried by the first-named slidable barsshall cause the latter to move outward at a fraction of the speed of theslidable bars carried thereby.

In a chair, a leg section comprising bars pivoted at their upper ends,bars slidably carried by said pivoted bars, slidable bars carried by thefirst-named slidable bars, means whereby outward movement im- 115 partedto the slidable barsl carried by the first-named slidable bars shallcause the latter to move outward at a fraction of the speed of theslidable bars carried thereby and means whereby downward movement o 120the pivoted bars shall reverse the movements of said slidable bars.

8. A chair of the character described, comprising a rigid leg frame, aback section pivoted to said frame, an extensible leg section 125pivoted to said frame, a seat section pivotally suspended from the backsection and the leg section; said extensible leg section com rising barspivoted at their upper ends to t e leg frame, bars slidably carried by130 said pivoted bars, slidable bars carried by the first-named slidablebars, means whereby outward movement imparted tothe slidable barscarried by the first-named slidable bars shall cause the latter to moveoutward at a fraction of the speed of the slidable bars carried thereby,and means for arresting lthe movement of said slidable bars at pointsintermediate Athe extremes of their sliding movements. I

9. A chair of the character described, comprising a leg frame having across bar provided with an upwardly-projecting lug, a vertically movablebar adjacent to said lug and suitably supported, a back section pivotedto the leg frame, a leg section pivoted to the leg frame, a seat sectionpivotally suspended from the back section and the le section anddisposed above said lug an movable bar, a locking bar arranged over thesaid lug and movable bar and under the seat section and hinged at itsrear end to the latter and provided near its front end with a notchcapable of receiving the said lug, and means carried by the seat sectionfor limiting the downward swinging or hing movement of the locking bar.

10. A chair of the character described, comprisingv a leg frame having across bar provided with an upwardly-projecting lug, a vertically movable-bar adJacent to Said lug and suitably supported, a back section pivotedto the leg frame, a leg section pivoted 'to the leg frame, a seatsection pivotally suspended from the back section and the leg sectionand disposed above said lug and movable bar, a locking bar arrange overthe said lug and movable bar and under the seat section and hinged atits rear end to the latter and provided with a notch to receive the saidlug, means carried by the seat section for limiting the downwardswinging or hinge movement of the locking bar, and handles carrying thevertically movable bar and overlying and normally resting on parts ofthe leg frame, either of said handles being adapted when pulled upwardto raise the movable bar and cause it to elevate and thus trip thelocking bar from engagement with said lug.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures, in the presence of twowitnesses.

Witnesses:

M. A. ODONNELL, G. Y. THORPE.

